Farmer, Epps to face off in November election

And then there were two. Tuesday was election day in Yakima County, and a three-person race for Sunnyside City Council position two was narrowed down to two names at the end of the day.

Running for election to the Sunnyside City Council position were incumbent Mike Farmer, as well as newcomers Bruce Epps and Ignacio Resendez.

As of Tuesday night, Epps had narrowly edged out Resendez to run against Farmer in the upcoming November General Election.

Farmer earned 545 votes to secure a place in the General Election, while only 33 votes separated Epps from Resendez. As of Tuesday night, Epps had 380 votes, compared to 347 votes for Resendez.

Although Resendez is no longer in the race he said he is satisfied with what happened at the polls yesterday.

"I guess the voters have spoken," he said, adding that those who didn't vote also had an effect on the election results.

"I am satisfied. I just wanted to give it a try," Resendez said. "I know city government needs a change."

Resendez added that even though he will not be serving on city council in the coming months, he still plans on being actively involved in the community.

Farmer, who has served on Sunnyside City Council for nearly eight years, said he was excited to see the results of yesterday's election and said now his goal is to ensure his message gets out to voters.

"I want to give the voters a clear choice," Farmer said.

He added that he also wants to ensure that voters know that he is interested in making Sunnyside a safe, clean community.

"A place where people want to stop and visit," Farmer said.

Farmer added that he was a little surprised by the voter turnout for the Primary, noting that it was a little less than he expected. According to the Yakima County Auditor's Office, 1,274 people cast votes in the city council race.

But, regardless of voter turnout, Farmer said he is confident of what the General Election holds for him.

Epps, who will be facing Farmer in the November election, said he is confident going into the General Election. He said he thinks it's a good sign that between himself and Resendez they were able to garner 727 votes, which when combined is more than the total votes Farmer received.

"I think that it's a good sign for us," Epps said.

Epps said the next step for him is to start getting his campaign signs out and really start to campaign heavily for election to the council position.

"It's getting out there and getting the support needed to take the election," Epps said.